Symbolism In The Awakening By Kate Chopin

American author Kate Chopin, a prominent author during the 1800s, is most known for her short stories and the sensitive topics included in her works. Chopin was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850 as the second daughter of Thomas O’Flaherty and Eliza Faris. Her father was Irish and her mother was French, leading to her growing up bilingual in English and French. In 1870, Chopin married her husband, Oscar Chopin, with whom she had six kids, and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana. Oftentimes, “Like other wealthy families in the city, the Chopins would go by boat to vacation on Grand Isle, a Creole resort in the Gulf of Mexico” (KateChopin.org). Both New Orleans and Grand Isle are the main settings in Chopin’s book, The Awakening, in which the

One of the most prominent of these devices is her use of symbolism, especially with birds. The beginning of the book opens with “A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door,” screaming the phrase “Go away! Go away for heavens sake!” in french (1). Like the parrot, Edna is trapped in a cage, except hers is her marriage. The pigeon house, though not a literal bird, further symbolizes Enda's entrapment because it represents her inability to escape her current life, as the house is only a couple steps away from the big house. Finally, at the end of the novel, “A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water,” symbolizing how Edna's own wings have been crushed by the patriarchal society she lives in (115). Another example of Chopin’s use of symbolism is that while at the Grand Isle, two lovers often appear around Edna and Robert symbolizing the life they could have had together if Edna was not married. Furthermore, the couple is followed by a lady in black, which foreshadows the doom that will follow the couple and Edna’s suicide. Edna's death is also foreshadowed in chapter ten when Edna learns how to swim, and a “quick vision of death smote her soul” (28). This is significant because the sea is where Edna first began to “awaken,” representing the freedom she longed for, and it is ultimately where Edna chooses to die. Moreover, irony plays a critical role in The Awakening. In chapter one, Mr.Pontellier tells Edna to send Robert “about his business”(3) when he bores her. This is ironic because Mr.Pontellier is the one who bores her, not Robert, and the thought never even occurs to him that he could be the one that bores Edna. This gives the audience a glimpse into how oblivious Mr.Pontellier really is toward his wife's thoughts and feelings. Another instance of irony